Haslam College of Business Internship

Management and Entrepreneurship Major Internship Requirement Process

Beginning with students who are on the 2021 catalog (typically those who entered the university in the fall 2021 semester) and moving forward, all management and entrepreneurship (M&E) undergraduate majors in the Haslam College of Business are required to complete an internship or equivalent experience to graduate. Students on prior catalog years also are required to complete this process. Internships are a chance for students to gain hands-on experience in the business world, apply the knowledge learned in the classroom to real-world problems and develop important professional skills. Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to complete more than one internship to increase their chances of success on the job market and further their professional development.

Why is there an internship requirement?

Between the experience of the internship and the course, MGT 489, you will:

1. Improve career readiness through active participation in a professional setting while developing transferable skills.
2. Increase professional development through networking opportunities accessed through the internship.
3. Develop greater self-awareness through your assessment and reflection.
4. Explore career options through the hands-on experience of a supervised internship. Internships can move you in the right direction by helping to differentiate the career path you want from those that may not be best for you.
5. Complete a PPT detailing, summarizing and reflecting on the internship experience.
6. Receive feedback about job performance through the employer evaluation.

Students must complete the following steps to fulfill this PPT requirement:

1. Find and receive an offer to complete an internship. Recommendations and best practices on finding and preparing for success in internships are found below and at the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration. Your Haslam career coaches and the M&E internship coordinator can also assist you in this process.
2. Complete the M&E Internship Approval form.
   • The form requires you to sign and upload a liability waiver. It also will request documentation such as the job description, your offer letter and additional information on the work to be performed, the number of work hours anticipated and other details.
   • You will also upload a copy of your resume and an offer letter of the internship (if you receive an email, you can send a screenshot or a copy of the document of the offer letter).
   • The M&E department will evaluate your approval form and send an email to inform you of its decision, typically within two weeks of your submission. Most structured or business management internships should pass this step, and additional types of approvable experience are listed in the ”What Counts as an Internship?” section.
   • The approval email will also contain the documents that the employer will need to fill out (Employer Verification Form-EVF, and the End of Internship Evaluation Form-IEF) that will be submitted electronically in MGT 489. You will also be sent the template for the reflection in case you want to work on it while you are at the internship and the experience is fresh in your mind.
3. Complete internship. Keep documentation of completion of your internship (or at least of completing 150+ hours in a period of three to five months in an approved internship experience). Submitting this documentation will be an assignment in MGT 489, the required internship course. Examples include (but are not limited to):
   • Employer Verification Form (EVF)
   • Internship Evaluation Form (IEF)
   • Slide deck for final internship project presentation
4. Complete MGT 489. This is a zero-credit-hour course taken during the semester immediately following completion of an internship. MGT 489 is available in the fall, spring and summer semesters.
   • Regardless of when you register for the course and whether you are registered for other courses concurrently, it will not incur a fee since it is worth zero credits.
   • In Step 2’s internship approval form, you will indicate which semester you anticipate enrolling in MGT 489 if your internship is approved. Once given approval, the M&E internship coordinator will add you to a list of students to be enrolled in the course in the weeks leading up to your indicated semester.
   • MGT 489 is not meant to be an overly demanding course; it is intended to be a depository and confirm your completion of a rigorous internship and help you gain more from the experience by reflecting on what you learned. It consists of:
     • Providing basic data on your internship
     • Submitting documentation to confirm that the internship was completed.
     • Completing the reflection PPT per the template provided.

What Counts as an Internship?

This requirement is relatively broad. Our goal is for all M&E students to obtain robust and relevant experience to help prepare them for their careers, and there are many ways to accomplish that. Below are two lists — the first shows the specific criteria that each experience must meet; the second shows example experiences (not a comprehensive list) that could be used to fulfill the requirement if they meet those minimum criteria (but are not guaranteed to be approved).

Minimum Criteria:

• 150+ hours of experience in a period of less than six months
• Experience is meaningful and relevant to one or more or the four functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, controlling) and/or general business operations and gives students knowledge about an area of operations, marketing, customer service, entrepreneurship or business management, or industry-specific knowledge that could help inform their potential career paths.
• Intern has regular (typically at least biweekly) contact with a supervisor who provides ongoing training and evaluates intern performance.

Examples of Approvable Experience:

• Full- or part-time internship  
• Full- or part-time management job where projects are preapproved to provide you with learning experiences and skills outside of your usual duties and responsibilities.
• Several micro-internships (preapproved, relevant short-term internships or projects combined)
• International internship

Numerous and diverse opportunities are available; however, students must seek out, apply for and obtain an internship or equivalent experience on their own. The college and the M&E department do not place students directly into internships. Students will be provided resources and tips (below) to assist them in independently seeking, securing and succeeding in internship experiences.

International Students

There is additional information available for international students trying to understand what their immigration status will allow. Visit the Internships and Practical Training page if you are in legal F-1 status (the qualifying category this will typically apply to is “Degree Requirement”). You may need to get the internship approval process started two weeks earlier than domestic students to accommodate additional required authorization processes. Contact International and Student Scholar Services for any additional questions related to immigration requirements for an internship experience.

You may also find useful information on this page, including helpful websites for identifying companies likely to petition for H-1B visas and the link to a resource called Interstride. This site is available to all UT students for free and provides a great one-stop shop for career-related information and tools for international students — including job listings, real-time hiring trends, employer information, career assessments and cultural tools and tips. 

Haslam’s International Programs and Study Abroad office can provide information about interning abroad.

Resources and Tips

You should apply the following resources and tips to assist in your internship search:

1. Meet with a career coach (schedule through Handshake) to prepare your resume and other application materials, learn about internship search strategies and resources, and identify areas of interest.
2. The Handshake database will help you find jobs and allow employers to find you more easily based on your major, graduation date and interests.
3. The professional social media platform LinkedIn will enable you to find internships and network with organizations and business professionals, including UT alumni.
4. Join student organizations that highlight your interests, such as: Management Society of University of Tennessee (MSUT), Society of Human Resource Management UTK Chapter (UTK SHRM), Alpha Kappa Psi (AKPsi), Delta Sigma Pi (DSP), Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), Diverse Organization of Business Students (DOBS), International Business Club (IB Club), Women of Haslam and American Marketing Association (AMA). This is not an exhaustive list, but these are organizations that management and entrepreneurship majors often join.
5. Attend career fairs. Find out about upcoming ones at Haslam’s Career Management and Recruiting page.
6. Explore additional resources and insights on the university’s Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration page.  
7. For those interested in interning abroad, contact Haslam’s International Programs and Study Abroad office, or visit International Internships or Programs Abroad.
8. Don’t forget your personal network! Your parents, parents’ friends, friends’ parents and UT alumni can be great sources for internships.
9. Make your own opportunity. Research companies you would like to work for and pursue an internship with them.
10. Consider interning during the fall or spring semester. These timeframes are less competitive than summer internships and often require a commitment of as few as 10 hours per week.
11. Consider interning at a nonprofit organization. Your internship coordinator can point you in the right direction and provide helpful resources.

The MGT internship coordinator and the Haslam career coaches can provide insight on internship search strategies and highlight openings coming available to help you find the right opportunity. Contact the internship coordinator; schedule time to ask questions related to the internship requirement or your internship search; or use Handshake to schedule an appointment with a career coach.

Exceptions

Completing an internship or similar experience is in the best interest of all M&E students, as it drastically improves the chances of finding relevant full-time job opportunities after graduation. Therefore, exceptions to the internship requirement are rare and not granted based on personal preference.

That said, exceptions may be available for situations in which it is not possible for the student to take on an internship opportunity. This can be the case for students in a variety of circumstances, including (but not limited to and not always applicable to) ROTC participants, student athletes and single parents. If you believe your situation calls for an exception and that you have a valid reason to request one, complete the Internship Approval form — it will give you the opportunity to submit justification for a possible exception. 

IMPORTANT: Approval of an exception request changes, but does not eliminate, the internship requirement for a student. If you are approved for an exception, you will still be required to complete MGT 489 in order to graduate. When you complete the Internship Approval form, you will provide justification for an exception to the standard internship requirement. You will then indicate during which semester you would like to complete MGT 489. If your exception request is approved, the internship coordinator will work with you to create an experience that will benefit your career and circumstance. You will be registered for MGT 489 in the semester you indicated. In that class, you will report and reflect on the alternative project to help make up for your lack of structured internship experience.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If you have additional questions, contact the M&E internship coordinator.